


Torn Between Two Lives

by amiipond



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, arrow vs oliver, season one re-write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-07-19 11:37:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7359688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amiipond/pseuds/amiipond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity Smoak's life takes a new path to an adventure she had never imagined to live and falls in love with two different men without knowing they are the same person.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. This is my first milti-chapter fic in English (it’s not my first language), so I wanted to say sorry for the mistakes in advance. I’m so nervous because I don’t know if people are going to like this, but my friend and I have a lot of idea and I hope you like it.  
> Thanks to my friend Vivian for helping me with the translation and with the idea. This story came up one night in Skype with her long time ago. I would have never been able to publish this without her.  
> I hope you enjoy it, so let me know what do you think about.

 

** **

 

_“Over the past 15 years Mr Redman has withdwn more tan $30 million from the plan’s account. Mr Redman claims refunding the Halcyon pension plan has always been his intent. But sources say Redman was coerced by the vigilante…”_

Felicity turned off the TV after hearing the news. This was one of the many news about “the vigilante” in the last week. Nobody knew who was under the hood, but Felicity liked the idea that finally there was someone who was doing something for the city. At least that was what it looked like in the news.

Although she hasn’t talked about this with anyone, Felicity has collected a great deal of information about him. She had been listening to many workmates’ conversations, people talking while she was having lunch or going to the supermarket. The truth was that there wasn’t any other topic of discussion in Starling City. While some citizens were terrified because of him, some others finally felt safe because there was someone who has started to deal with the city’s high criminality and corruption.

Felicity was in the last group. She wasn’t used to listen to other people’s conversations, but since they started to talk about “the Hood”, she couldn’t help it. It was impossible for her not to pay attention to any kind of comment with the hope of getting any clue about him. Nobody knew his identity. Nobody knew where he came from. The only thing they knew was that he patrolled the city wearing a green hood and shooting arrows at those people who did the wrong thing.

“He’s a lunatic!” “He’s a killer!” “He is our guardian angel!” Everybody had different opinions. People were confused and the press didn’t hesitate to talked about him to draw a crowd. There were television specials about him, which attracted a very large amount of people looking for an answer. The magazines were full of pages with information that leaded to nowhere. From the very first person who talked about “Starling City’s vigilante”, many people saw this as their chance to get their fifteen minutes of fame by making up false testimonies about this unknown figure.

Felicity was aware that she couldn’t trust the media because they weren’t going to provide anything useful. Even then, she found herself buying every single magazine and newspaper. She also watched every television special and listened to the radio on her way to work. Thanks to all the information she had collected, Felicity came to the conclusion that people knew nothing about him and that intrigued her even more.

The police treated him like a killer. They even offered a reward to anyone skillful enough to find him, which something almost illogical because nobody could find him easily. No one could beat him, unless your fighting skills were similar or even better than his. Felicity didn’t trust the police. She always thought that they were simply people who wore a badge and abuse their power for different purposes. She thought that calling them when you were supposed to do it was useless… It was assumed that they would take care of you and do justice. Felicity didn’t believe in justice. She didn’t believe that someone wearing a badge and having that kind of title could be able to do justice. Did that word even exist? Could anyone really get what he deserve?

When she was a child, her father abandoned her and her mother. She thought she had a perfect family. A father who pleased her and all her technological whims. She had a deep admiration for the man who she had once called her father.

She used to sit at his desk to see how he worked. She could spend hours looking at what his father was doing until falling asleep. The following day, she would always wake up in her bed, not knowing how she got there. Her father was the one who used to take her to the bed, tuck and kiss her forehead. Almost every night was the same, except those ones when he had no work. Felicity liked to listen to her father’s stories. His stories always involved lots of technological devices and most of them were fake, so that way she could learn from them.

All she ever wanted was her father to be proud of her, that was important to her. Every single kid wanted their father to be proud of their own achievements.

But one day, her own fairytale ended. That perfect family she always thought she lived in never existed. The man she admired wasn’t who she thought he was. One day her whole life fell apart and she couldn’t understand why.

One morning she woke up and her father was gone. He left and took with him everything they had. She found her mother crying in the kitchen and didn't know what to do. She was only seven years old. She was just seven-year old girl who hoped for her father to come back.

At first, Felicity was mad at her mother because she always told her he would never come back. She still admired him. She still thought that one day, he would get in through their little house's door with a new book for her to read. But that never happened. Her father never came back. Her heart broke into a million of pieces when she finally understood that he would never return. Felicity cried inconsolably when she finally understood they didn't have anything left. Her mother and her had had to moved into a little apartment because they weren't able to pay for their old house. Felicity had to witness her mother crying in silence. Donna, her mother, never found out that her daughter was aware of her tears. She always tried to put a brave face for her. She always tried to make her daughter happy, even when they didn’t have anything. Donna always tried to be positive in front of her. But Felicity knew that she forced her smiles to hide her unbearable tears. The tears of a little girl who had lost the man she loved the most, her father. The tears that at some point turned into smiles. The tears that she would never forget. The tears that made her stronger over time.

Fortunately, her mother was able to stand up every day to go to work and rebuild everything her father had destroyed. Because of that, Felicity started to admire her mother, even though she didn’t want that life. She didn’t want to live her whole life in Las Vegas, in that tiny apartment. She loved her mother. She loved being with her and admired all the sacrifices she had to make for years, but when Felicity got a scholarship to study at the MIT, she didn’t hesitate in accepting it. Donna cried but felt proud to be her mother. She knew her daughter’s love for computers and any technology in general. She even witnessed how Felicity was able to build her own computer because she couldn’t afford one. Due to all that, she let her daughter go. She believed that Felicity would be able to achieve everything she wanted

Her years at MIT were good, except when her boyfriend, Cooper, was arrested and  she found out a few days later that he had killed himself. At least that was what they told her.

The police had failed her again. The first time, they did nothing to stop her father. She had begged a policeman to find him because her mother couldn’t stop crying and she didn’t want her to be sad. She begged the policeman to find him in order to get back their belongings. She begged the policeman in order to get an explanation from him. And they found him, but they simply said that there was no evidence to indicate that he had stolen them or had any family. Felicity blamed them for that, and also blamed them for his father’s abandonment. So when Cooper committed suicide, she blamed them again for not stopping him, even when she knew it had been his decision. Despite the fact that she knew they couldn’t do anything about it, it just happened.

Over time, she finally understood that it wasn’t the police’s fault not being able to arrest her father. It was just that man’s fault. He erased every single piece of information that could relate to them. Even if that was the case, she didn’t believe in justice. She didn’t believe that the police would be able to do anything because there were many more men like her father out there and they had got away with it and the police had done nothing to stop them. They had done nothing in order to stop this kind of things from happening. Because all of that, when she heard about this “Vigilante” for the first time, Felicity felt drawn by the idea of someone finally doing justice. It may not have been the best way, but at least he was doing something that some others didn’t: Justice. To Felicity, that kind of made him a **hero**.

*******

Oliver had put on the hood one more night to search of those who hurt the city. That time, his target was James Holder. The Holder’s corporation had installed defective smoke detectors in low income housing in the Glades, creating many fires and too many funerals. But he was killed by someone else. Holder had created enemies over the years, it was not a surprise for Oliver that someone else wanted him dead.

One of the many shots aimed to Holder ended up in Oliver's shoulder, despite having tried to dodging them. Thanks to everything he had learned on the island, he could get the bullet out and heal his wound. Soon after that, Oliver realized that the bullet was laced with "Curare", a rare and deadly poison. Fortunately he had all the necessary to stop the poison that had been in his blood and it was starting to take effect.

Oliver did a little of researching and found out that he was an assassin who killed all over the world without remorse. The interpol even had a codename for him: **DEADSHOT**. A murderer without any morality, honor nor code. He didn’t kill for justice.

Thanks to his former position in the Bratva, the Russian mafia, Oliver found out his identity and where he was. His real name was Floyd Lawton. Finally, a little of luck on his side.

He went to the last place where Deadshot was located. Lawton managed to escape after shooting several times in order to kill Oliver. He cursed at the fact he had escaped, but not everything was bad news. He left behind a laptop, which Oliver thought it would be helpful, but the only problem was that it was full of bullets.

He needed help. He needed someone who could rescue the information from that old laptop. But he needed someone trustworthy.

Oliver searched in the records of the IT department belonging to his family’s corporation. There were several names registered in there, but unfortunately, none of them worked there anymore. He found just one name, Felicity Smoak. She had graduated with honors from the MIT. He also read several notes made by Walter, his stepfather. He doubted whether it was a good idea to involve someone in what he was doing. He doubted whether this girl, still unknown to him, was reliable.

But he needed her help and could not waste time wondering if he could trust her or not. Oliver had learned not to trust people, but he had also learned not to judge anyone without knowing them. Something in his head kept telling him that he could trust her, but he was not sure if she would trust him. Oliver’s name was everywhere. He was that playboy who came back from the dead. He didn’t have a good reputation and did not want to use his powers of seduction on her.

  ***

Felicity finished his working day and was looking forward going home and having dinner. She was a terrible cook, so she always stopped at Big Jelly Burger or somewhere else.

She was walking towards her car when she heard a noise coming from somewhere in the parking lot , but she decided to ignore it. It must have been one of the employees. She was wrong. That day her life took a new path towards an adventure she had never imagined to live.

She heard the sound of an arrow and saw how it landed in front of her sticking into the ground. She froze, taking air. Suddenly, she was very nervous.

"Felicity Smoak?" she heard a grimly voice saying her name. She didn’t say anything. She just saw a male figure approaching her.

"Oh, it’s you..." she said surprised when she realized that she was talking to the infamous vigilante. It was like a dream. One that she didn’t know if she ever wanted to wake up. She knew she shouldn’t be afraid of him. She had imagined in her mind many meetings with him, where she would thank him for everything he was doing for the city, but now that he was in front of her, she was terrified. She never thought that her thoughts would come true like this. She never thought she would see “The Hood”. "You're that guy with the arrows. Wait, am I in trouble? Did I do something wrong? I swear I won’t download any other Doctor Who episode from Internet again...  it’s not like I do that very often but… okay, I'll stop talking in 3... 2 ... 1 "

Oliver tried to keep a serious face, but it was impossible not to drop a grin after listening to her babbling _._

"I need your help," he said taking a few steps toward her.

"Oh," she opened her mouth surprised. "My help? Why? Why me?" she asked confused. Felicity felt like she was in a superhero movie, where the hero is looking for the girl. Everything felt so unreal, she didn’t even know how to react.

"I hear you're good with computers." Felicity nodded and waited for him to continue. "I was looking for someone but he escaped. The only thing he left was this laptop" Oliver took a step towards her and extended the arm where he was holding the laptop, so she would be able to catch it. Felicity frowned when she realized that it was full of bullets.

"What makes you think that I can retrieve information from a laptop full of bullets?"  She didn’t get any answer. "Sorry." She apologized while bitting her lower lip and looking down. She hadn’t got any response which made her get extremely nervous. "I can try." she said while picking up the laptop and put it into her purse

"Thank you" he thanked her and took a few steps back

"I won’t get in trouble for this, will I?” She asked worried.

"Trust me"

"I do" Oliver nodded in appreciation and turned back. "Wait... How will I retu..." she wasn’t able to finish her sentence. He was already gone.

***

When she got home, Felicity still couldn’t believe that the hood had asked for her help. HER help. Between all those people he could have asked for help, he chose her. She felt flattered, glad to have studied in the MIT and thanked her brain for letting her remember and learn all that knowledge which made her good at her job.

She threw away her shoes and went directly towards her bed, where she kept watching her white ceiling. She completely forgot to get some take out on her way to home because her mind was replaying her meeting with the hood. It still felt unreal. It still felt like a dream. However, every time she took a look at her purse and saw the laptop sticking out of it, she knew it was real. That what had happened to her was real.

After taking a shower, she decided that it was a good moment to go to bed, so that way her head could stop thinking about that meeting. But that was an impossible task so she decided to get up and put on her glasses. Then she took the laptop and her tablet to start trying to get as much information as she could. She didn’t know what she could find in it. Felicity thought that its owner would have kept inside every single one of his evil plans and she wasn’t ready to see that.

At the end, she wasn’t able to start because she fell asleep.

***

Felicity forgot to set the alarm the night before, so she tried to get to work as fast as possible, even though she knew she was late. She took the laptop with her, hoping to be able to work on it at lunch time. Although she was worried that someone would suspect something.

“Felicity Smoak?” said a male voice coming from behind that startled Felicity, who was trying to get some information from the broken device. “Hi, I’m Oliver Queen.”

“Of course I know who you are. You are Mr Queen” she said after taking a red pen out of her mouth, which she had been chewing for a while.

“No, Mr Queen was my father.”

“I know, but he’s dead, I mean he drowned, but you didn’t. Wich means you could come down to the IT department and listen to me babble. Which will end… in 3, 2, 1…” He smiled at her adorable babble, the very same one she did when he asked for her help as the hood.

Oliver saw the laptop on her desk and knew she was working on it. He thought it was a good idea introducing himself as Oliver Queen, so that way he could keep a close eye on her work and avoid getting her in some trouble because of him.

He then remembered that that wasn’t the first time she saw that girl. There was something about her. Something different that made him trust her. She wasn’t like those girls who became bound to his feet just by using the correct word. There was something about her that made her more special than any other girl he has ever met. When he walked into her office, Oliver felt no need to seduce her like he would have done with any other girl. The truth was that he wasn’t that person anymore, but that was the only way he knew to approach a woman.

That wasn’t the first he ever saw her and that made her even more special. Some years ago, Oliver had come back to Starling City, due to those missions he got from Amanda Waller. His mission consist of getting into his family’s corporation and get information from an employee… Then he saw her. She started talking to herself and to a photo of him. She was adorable but he couldn’t stay to look at her for much longer, because he had other things to focus on. Over years, Oliver had forgotten about that moment, but he realized that the memory had remaind deep down for some reason. He knew that she was that girl who thought he was cute while looking at one his worst pictures. He knew he could trust her, not only because of what he had read about her but also because he could feel she was one of those people he could trust for his mission.

“How can I help you?” she asked kind of confused because it wasn’t normal seeing the owner’s son in her office.

“Well, the truth is that I was just bored and looking for something to entertain myself. You know, my mother is in those boring meetings and I decided to find out how is everything doing in the company. Then I realized I’ve never been in this floor before so.. Here I am…”

“Oh… It’s an honor to me, Mr Queen.”

“Please, call me Oliver.”

She nod shyly.

Oliver’s glace changed to the black laptop full of bullet holes which was on Felicity’s desk. The very same one he had given to her last night.

“Are you working on something?” he asked her pointing at the laptop.

Felicity’s heart started to beat really hard. She wasn’t good at making up excuses and even less in such a short time.

“Well, I’m trying to get back some data from this device’s hard drive…” she said as natural as she could. Felicity didn’t want that the fact that she was helping the hood might cost her to lose her job. The one she had been working for such a long time.

“Is it something I can help you with?”

“Don’t be offended, but I don’t think there aren’t much things for you to help.”

“I was just trying to be nice, Ms Smoak” he replied while winking at her.

“I really appreciate it, Mr Queen.”

“Oliver.”

“Oliver” she repeated after him.

Oliver smiled and glance back at the laptop. “There’s someone who really must hate this laptop. It’s completely ruined.”

“Someone dropped a cup of coffee on it.”

“Really? Because these looked like bullet holes.”

“My coffee shop is in a bad neighbour.”

Felicity tilted her head to her side and Oliver grinned. He obviously knew that she was lying. He knew that she was lying because of him and due to that he found the situation amusing.

“So… You graduated from the MIT.”

“Yes, class of 2009.”

“That’s fantastic. I didn’t even graduated… then I was gone for a long time.”

“oh… I’m sorry you had to go through all of that… You can try again now that you are back.”

“No, studying is not my thing.”

“It’s not that bad. I liked when I had to read Shakespeare.”

“Who?” he rolled his eyes not understanding what was Felicity talking about.

“I can’t believe you don’t know who he is” she said almost offended.

“I didn’t study Shakespeare at any of the four schools that I dropped out of.”

“Oh, okay…”

“It has been a pleasure talking to you, Felicity, but it looks like my mother has already left that boring meeting.”

“The pleasure was mine, Mr Queen.”

“Oliver.”

“Oh, sure. It’s… Oliver.”

“I hope you good luck with your laptop.”

“Thanks, but I’ve already got everything I wanted.”

“Cool. Bye, Felicity.”

***

An arrow landed to the ground and Felicity knew that her new friend in a hood came back to contact her. Despite their first meeting last night, she still couldn’t help but being surprised and a little bit scared when she saw the arrow in front of her.

“Are you always going to stalk me while getting out of work?” she asked amused, trying not to let her voice betray herself and make her sound nervous... She still couldn’t believe what was happening to her. Everything seemed so unreal. But there he was, at ten feet away from her.

Felicity got no answer to her question.

"I think you're looking for this," she said taking out the laptop from her purse. "I did everything I could"

Oliver took a step forward, which was enough to reach the laptop. "Anything I should know?

"It’s just some Exchange building plans. That is where the Unidac Industries’s auction is scheduled to take place, which my boss is trying to buy, but I don’t know what that has to do with any criminal you're looking for. "

“Anything else?”

“I still don’t get what are you looking for, but apparently this computer is associated with one of those guys Mr Steele is competing against. Oh, in case you didn’t get the reference, when I said Mr Steele, I was talking about my boss...”

“Floyd Lawton”

“No. Warren Patel. Who’s Floyd Lawton? Is he the criminal you are looking for?” In spite of the darkness, Felicity saw the Hood nodding. “Okay I don’t want to get in the middle of whatever thing are you involved but… Is Mr Steele in trouble?”

“No. He is not in trouble.”

Felicity breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Felicity"

"I'm glad to have been able to help you.”

The hood disappeared before the astonished gaze of Felicity, who was wondering if she would see him again or if he would ever contact her again. Even if it was hard to believe, she knew that everything was real. HE was real and he knew **HER** name.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity Smoak's life takes a new path to an adventure she had never imagined to live and falls in love with two different men without knowing they are the same person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i accidentally deleted this chapter so, im going to post it again... it's so sad because i lost all the comments :( anyway, happy reading.

It had been two weeks since she had heard the sound of an arrow landing in front of her. Two weeks since her life took an unexpected turn. She was going nuts wondering if she would be able to see him again, if the Hood would need her help again… but weeks passed by and he didn’t contact her. 

She heard things about him in the news… the media were always talking about him. The city was improving because of him but there was still someone who tried to convince people that he was a killer and someone dangerous. He was not a killer. But, while that was what she ithought about the Vigilante, the police didn’t share her opinion… It didn’t matter to them how many people he had helped or how many lives he had saved, the Hood would always be a lunatic wearing a green hood and a threat to society. 

She thought that she might not be able to see him again, but she had been lucky enough to be able to help him and be useful. After their meeting, her daily life seemed boring… except for the fact that she got a new friend, Oliver Queen. One day, Oliver had come into her office unannounced and since that moment, he had stopped by just to say hello… Greetings and nothing else. They didn’t have any kind of serious conversation after that, so she wasn’t sure if it would be okay to consider him a friend. She had also met him once in a while in a coffee shop near the QC building and he had invited her for a coffee… which was something she always tried to thank him for, while doing all she could not to babble in front of him again. She didn’t understand why Oliver Queen approached her, but she liked the idea of having someone to talk to, even if it was about the weather. 

Since the day she got to Starling City, her life had been boring, but Felicity was happy there because she was working at her dream job. She had been able to get out of her hometown and leave the bad things behind. She promised herself that she would build a new life. A new life far from everything. She wasn’t that little girl who was abandoned by her father anymore nor that naïve black-haired teenager who was studying at MIT… She was an independent young woman who had a great future ahead of her. Even if she felt lonely, she couldn’t complain about all the things she had accomplished. Every day, Felicity enjoyed going to work and coming back home with one of her favorite TV shows waiting for her. Once in a while, she got calls from her former MIT classmates, but nothing else… That was why she always felt happy when Oliver greeted her. She knew perfectly who Oliver Queen was. She knew about his former life as a playboy. And, although those years were over, she also knew that she wasn’t his type, that Oliver Queen would never approach her with ulterior motives. And she was fine with that. Of course, she thought Oliver was really handsome, even in those old pictures she used to watch in Moira Queen’s office… But, who wouldn’t think that about Oliver Queen? After all, everybody had a platonic crush on him. But that didn’t mean she wanted to end up in his bed and become one of the many girls who would do anything to gain his attention. 

“Good morning, Ms Smoak.” Felicity recognized his voice immediately. 

“Good morning, Mr Queen… I mean Oliver… sorry,” she said nervously… For some reason, he found her babbling amusing, something that made her even more nervous. 

Like every morning, Felicity dropped by the coffee shop where she usually met Oliver, something that had become a habit. Oliver paying for her coffee had also become a habit. However, that day, she arrived earlier and by the time he finally got to the coffee shop, Felicity had already paid for her coffee. 

“You woke up early today,” he said before the confused look she was giving him. 

“I always wake up early, Oliver,” she replied and then took a sip of her coffee. 

“I know, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen you have enough time to sit and enjoy your coffee, instead of leaving as fast as you can with it like you always do,” said Oliver sitting on the chair located in front of her. That day, Felicity had woken up sooner because she had the feeling that it would be a good day, even though she wasn’t sure if that had something to do with her new vigilante friend. 

“Oh, right. It’s not a big deal… Sometimes I like coming here earlier and relax before another exciting day in front of the monitors begins.”

“I thought you liked your job.”

“I like it, trust me. But not everything about it is amusing…” Oliver smiled. She was the only person who could make him do that so easily. 

“If you get bored at work, you can talk to me.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea… I mean, we already talk to each other whenever you drop by my office and I always wonder if they are going to make any deduction from my salary because of that… Besides, I don’t even have your number, I mean, I’m not asking you, but…”

Oliver couldn't help but chuckle when he heard her talk.

"Felicity." Just by saying her name he made her stop her babbling and blush. "Nobody is going to reduce your salary just because you talk to someone," he said. "And I would like to have your number... you know, I'm clumsy when it comes to technology, so I may need your help once in a while."

Her number. Oliver Queen wanted her number. What kind of agreement had she made for such irreal things to happen? First, "The Hood" had wanted her help and now Oliver Queen wanted her number.

"Sure, I'll be glad to help you... Well, unless you call me in the middle of the night... I may not answer you and if I do, I may sound grumpy."

"Noted."

Felicity wrote her phone number in a napkin which was on the table and gave it to Oliver with a smile on her face. 

"I'll call you," he said picking up the napkin and standing up. "I'll see you later, Felicity."

She nodded and kept her eyes on Oliver until he walked out the door. 

***

Felicity was in front of the door to her boss' office. Something told her that maybe her day wasn't going to be as good as it looked like. It's never a good thing when your boss wants to talk to you. It's never a good thing when someone wants to talk to you.

"Why are you firing me?" she said not knocking on the door. If these were some other circumstances, she would have waited and requested her entrance, but she was nervous and outraged just by thinking they were firing her. 

"Miss Smoak, right?" asked Mr Steele confused.

"Yes. Sorry, Mr Steele... but I am without any doubts the single most valuable member of your technical division. That’s including my so-called “supervisor”. Letting me go would be a major error for this company,” Felicity said without thinking before Walter’s astonished gaze.

“I agree, which is why you’re not being fired. There is another reason why you are here.”

“Oh… I thought…” she said totally embarrassed by her monologue just some seconds before.

“The reason why you are here is because I wanted you to look into something for me.”     Walter picked up some documents from the table and handed them to Felicity. “A variance of 2.6$ million on failed investment from 3 years ago. It was authorized by my wife. I was hoping you could find out some of the details of the transaction for me. Dig up discreetly.”

“Sure… I can do it… I’m your girl.” She turned around and headed for the door, but she realized what she had said and turned again to clarify. “I mean, I’m not your girl, I wasn’t making a pass at you.” Walter nodded and she turned around again to go back to work… or to get on with the investigation her boss had asked.

Felicity was completely sure about two things: She was a genius and people relied on her easily for that reason. There was always someone who needed her help. Despite being a genius and having an unequaled charm, she was full of insecurities and fears and being a genius didn’t help her to overcome them.

***

Traffic in Starling City was one of the things Felicity hated the most about the city, but her desire to eat something was bigger than her anger towards some idiot’s poor driving skills.

When she entered her favorite restaurant, Big Belly Burger, she found a familiar face, Oliver, but in that moment she tried to go unnoticed, since he was accompanied by who she assumed was his bodyguard.

“Good night, Felicity. The usual?” a dark-haired woman asked her. Felicity was a regular, so everyone knew her.

She nodded as a response to her question and said, “good night, Carly.” Carly smiled and headed to the kitchen, leaving Felicity alone. But her loneliness didn’t last, since Oliver had noticed her presence and stood up to greet her.

“Hey,” he whispered in her ear, making Felicity turn around startled.

“O… Oliver, hi… What are you doing here? I mean, it’s obvious what you’re doing here, everyone comes to do the same…”

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Felicity.” She smiled. “I want to introduce you to someone.” Oliver invited her to go to the table where Diggle was. “John Diggle, my bodyguard and friend.”

“Hi,” said Felicity shyly. “Felicity Smoak.”

“Oliver’s told me a lot about you, Miss Smoak, pleasure to meet you.” Felicity smiled and blushed, not knowing what to say.

“The pleasure’s all mine, Mr. Diggle.”

Oliver had told his bodyguard about her? Her thoughts were interrupted when the police entered the building without previous warning. 

“Oliver Queen, you’re under arrest on suspicion of obstruction of justice, aggravated assault, trespassing, acting as a vigilante…”

“What? Are you insane?” she heard Oliver say, while two policemen grabbed him by the arms and handcuffed him.

“And murder,” finished Quentin Lance, a policeman that was quite well-known in the city, whose only objective was to stop the vigilante.

“Everything was so confusing. Felicity didn’t know what to say, she just stood there, watching as they took him without being able to do anything. Was Oliver the Vigilante? Was Oliver the person who had asked for her help two weeks earlier? Everything made more sense now… She had met Oliver the day after her meeting with the Vigilante and since then she hadn’t heard of the Vigilante but she had indeed heard from Oliver. Felicity grabbed her food and ran to her car. Her head was spinning. Her new friend had been arrested and accused of being someone she considered good for the city. She still did.

When she got home she dropped her food bag in the kitchen and threw herself on the sofa, dropping her shoes in the living room. Her head had a thousand questions and zero answers. She needed an explanation from Oliver, but she wasn’t sure she was going to get one… if Oliver was really the Vigilante, they wouldn’t let him go that easily and by no means they would let him talk to her when she was no one to him. Despite not being sure if she could call Oliver her friend, since they had barely talking in the two weeks they knew each other, she cared about him and even more if he was the person she admired.

She tried to clear her mind by focusing on the investigation Walter has asked her to do… Sometimes she wondered if she wouldn’t have been better off just becoming a detective, since everyone kept asking her to investigate things, but she knew it was because of her knowledge.

She wasn’t sure about what she’d found out, but her head was swamped of so much information, everything involved the Queen family. On the one head, Oliver had been arrested, accused of being the Vigilante, and on the other hand, Walter wanted her to dig up on an investment Moira Queen authorized.

***

Oliver had spent hours in jail, he’d even spent the night there. He was sure he was going to get out of there, but he wasn’t sure how he would explain to Felicity everything that had happened. He had been arrested in front of her. He didn’t want her to know his secret, not for the moment, he needed to protect her. It was ironic, considering he had decided to involve her the first time, but sometimes he needed her help, even if he didn’t want to admit it, and he trusted Felicity despite not knowing anything about her. During his years on the island he had learned to read people’s body language, he knew perfectly when he was being lied to and when he was being told the truth. He knew when someone was hiding something from him. That’s why he trusted Felicity completely, because he knew he could.

After hours of being arrested and endless questioning that was going nowhere, he managed to leave under house arrest. He wasn’t allowed to leave the Queen mansion until everything was cleared up. He was willing to prove his innocence, despite the fact that he wasn’t innocent. If people found out about him, he wouldn’t be able to carry out his mission and the city would still be swarmed of people abusing their power and privileges.

“I don’t think a party’s the best thing right now,” said Tommy, his best friend, when he heard his idea.

Oliver had the idea of throwing a party in the mansion, a jail-themed party. His idea was that while he was at the party, Diggle would put on the suit to take part in some arms trafficking. That way he could be seen with the hood and Oliver’s “innocence” would be proved. 

Diggle had agreed to join his crusade that same night at Big Belly Burger, just a few minutes before running into Felicity and being arrested. He knew at first he would object to wearing the suit, but it was the only way to continue with the mission without anyone getting harmed.

“It’s a good way for people to see I’m not scared. I’m innocent, a party’s not a bad thing, Tommy.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll take care of it, but I still think this is a bad idea.”

Oliver took his phone and in that moment he decided to text Felicity. He hadn’t had time to contact her and explain what had happened, he didn’t even know if she would believe him when he told her he was NOT the man in the hood. 

_ “Hi, this is Oliver, I’m sorry you had to see that that night, it wasn’t my intention… But Quentin hates me and he makes up any excuse to go against me.” _

“Who are you texting?” asked Tommy curious, hanging up after trying to get some things for his friend’s party.

“She’s a friend,” he answered, looking at the phone, still getting no response from Felicity.

“Since when does Oliver Queen have female friends?”

“Since I met her. Look, I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m not interested in her that way, she’s not my type, she’s just a friend.”

“In that case you should invite your friend to the party.” Oliver frowned at his friend’s suggestion. “Hey, I’m not interested, I’m seeing someone.”

“Since when is Tommy Merling seeing someone?” he asked amused.

“It’s a long story, I promise I’ll tell you when I know where it’s going, I don’t want to screw up this time… But seriously, you should invite her.”

Oliver picked up his phone and started typing again, since he still hadn’t got a response from her.

_ “I’m throwing a party tomorrow in my house, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to invite you over and apologize in person… Being under home arrest sucks.” _

He looked at his phone and there was still no answer. She probably had a lot of questions, but he couldn’t answer them. Not yet.

He stood up and walked to Diggle, who was standing in front of the entrance with his arms crossed, not moving a muscle.

“I need to ask you something,” Oliver said while gesturing him to follow him to his room so they could talk without being heard.

Diggle looked at him, confused.

“I need you to be me tonight. I need you to go see someone.”

“Are you crazy?” I’m definitely not doing that.” 

“Please… I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

“That’s why I can’t do it, Oliver. You were arrested, mission’s over,” said Diggle, very sure of himself.

“No. They don’t have me.”

“Oliver, they got you on video.”

“All part of the plan, I knew the security camera was there… Sooner or later, somebody was going to make the connection. That’s why I need your help. I need you to go see that person.”

“Who is it?”

“Felicity.”

Diggle opened his mouth to reply but Oliver spoke first. “Two weeks ago the man in the hood paid her a visit, he needed her help…”

“Oliver, I don’t think it’s very wise to involve an innocent girl in your mission.”

“I know. It’s just that… She was the only person I could turn to in that moment. Then I decided it was a good idea to get close to her as Oliver, so I could protect her without her knowing my secret… But last night I got arrested in front of her, and was accused of being that man, and now she’s not answering… Oliver can’t answer her questions, but the man in the hood can.

“This is crazy.”

“There’s something else. Leo Mueller, German and arms dealer. Suspected in the theft of a hundred M249 squad automatic weapons. Last night he arrived in Starling City to sell the guns…”

“Oliver, don't you imagine there's enough trouble you're in this week than to go after this guy?”

“I imagine what would happen if a street gang got their hands on military-grade hardware. I imagine our city's streets turned into a war zone.”

Diggle didn’t answer.

“I would like you to track his movements. I want to know where the buy is happening.”

“And how am I supposed to track him?”

“Well, you know us billionaire vigilantes... we do love our toys.”

“And what about Felicity?”

“Wait for her in the QC parking lot, her shift finishes at 7 pm.”

“Okay…”

***

Felicity read Oliver’s texts, she did it of course, but she wasn’t ready to answer him. On the one hand, Oliver could be right and everything was a huge mistake caused by Quentin Lance’s hatred towards him. However, on the other hand, everything fitted perfectly at site. Everything made sense. 

It had been a hard day at work. First, she had to tell her boss there had been no investment and that that money was used to create an offshore LLC called Tempest. The very same company had bought a warehouse in Starling City in 2009. She didn’t know what that was supposed to mean, but judging by Walter’s expression, it wasn’t good. Then she had a discussion with her “supervisor”, because apparently she wasn’t doing her job properly but he had to eat his own words when he realized that, not only was she doing everything as good as possible, but she also had saved the entire system from a really dangerous threat. Felicity really hated it when someone doubted her abilities or believed they were better than her. 

And finally, Oliver had texted her and she didn’t know how to reply to him.

Her day didn’t get any better when she saw the shadow of what she thought came from a man in the parking lot. She got scared so she started to walk as fast as she could towards her car. 

“Felicity” Diggle said using the voice changer, so that way Felicity would not be able to suspect that he wasn’t the same man who asked for her help.

Felicity got paralyzed. 

“I’ve heard the news about Oliver Queen…” Diggle didn’t know what to say, in his head he was swearing at Oliver for making him go through that. “I assumed you would get confused by that.” 

“You… you are not Oliver.” Her entire body was shaking and she was fighting with her feet to stand up.

“No. I don’t know what could’ve happened, but he’s not me.” Somehow Diggle wasn’t lying, he wasn’t Oliver.

“This is very confusing. They arrested an innocent person… I’m not saying you’re guilty of something… What I mean is that the police never do their job well… Then you came along. You really care about this city, even though you don’t always use the best methods, but… who am I to question your methods? To me you’re kind of a hero, whoever you are. Thank you.”

“Thank you for trusting me, Felicity,” he answered, thinking that’s what Oliver would’ve wanted to say to her even though he wouldn’t have been able to, because even when he was wearing a hood, Oliver Queen wasn’t good at expressing his feelings, which he could gather from the short time he’d known him.

“Can you do something to make them let Oliver go?” she asked before the Vigilante left.

“I’m on it.” And he left without saying anything, avoiding the conversation to go on any longer.

***

**“I guess I can still go to your party, right?”**

Oliver watched his cellphone’s screen and read the text he got from Felicity. She took her time to answer him. There were just a few hours left until the party. He sighed when he realized  everything was okay with her, or at least that’s what it looked like. Diggle had just told him that girl seemed special and didn’t deserve to be involved in that, but since she was, he expected him to protect her the way she deserved. And he would help him. One way or another, Oliver knew he wasn’t so alone in his mission as he thought. He had Diggle and Felicity and for him they were enough. Even though the later had no idea about the mission, but it was better that way.

_ “I’ll be waiting for you.” _

**“Oliver Queen, are you flirting with me?** **_”_ **

_ “No, I’m just looking forward to seeing my friend.” _

Hours later the party had started and Oliver was in rich kid mode, until he saw a familiar face, besides Tommy’s, Diggle’s and his family’s.

“Felicity,” he said while grabbing her arm. She looked at him, rather nervous. She was nervous about being in the Queen mansion. She spent hours thinking about whether or not she should go, until she finally decided she would, not knowing if that was the right decision.

“Oliver, are you okay,” she asked worried.

“Yes. They still haven’t taken out this thing from my foot.” He lifted his trousers to show her the device connected to his ankle.

“I’m sorry…”

“Hey, it’s me who should apologize, but not here, there’s too much noise.” He grabbed her hand and took her to his room.

“Wow… Oliver Queen’s taking me to his room… I’m not interested in your proposal, Mr. Queen,” she said funny. “I’m kidding, sorry.”

“Felicity.” He put a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. Felicity looked back at him, thinking about how blue his eyes were, so blue it was very easy to get lost in them. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m sorry I didn’t answer before… Everything was very confusing and yesterday wasn’t the best day for me…”

“It seems it wasn’t a good for either of us.”

“No. I hope they let you out soon, it’s not fair…”

“They will soon,” he said, thinking about how that same night Diggle was going to stop some arms trafficking in the Glades. That way they would see he wasn’t the man in the hood.

“I hope so.” She sighed.

Oliver took his hand apart from his shoulder, but he didn’t stop looking at her. She didn’t either.

“If you were really him, the man in the hood, I wouldn’t be surprised. I can perfectly picture you being him… I think you’re that kind of person. I know we can’t call each other friends, since we’ve barely talked, but if you ever need someone to talk to about what happened to you, you know where to find me.”

“Duly noted.” A smile escaped his lips when he heard Felicity’s words.

“By the way, it was so kind of you to apologize and invite me, but you didn’t have to do it. It’s not your fault that the police arrested you, let alone that I was there. Thanks.” Felicity took a step towards him and gave him a kiss on the cheek before she left. She wasn’t the type of girl who did things like that. In general, she was really shy when it came to men, but Oliver wasn’t like them. She was aware that there would never be any ulterior motive coming from him nor from her. 

Oliver stood completely confused in his room. He knew Felicity was different from other girls, he knew she wasn’t the type of girl who let herself fall for anyone. And he wasn’t the type of man who she deserved to have close, but he couldn’t help to want her close. She was the only one who saw him like a person. She was the only PERSON who made him laugh in just one minute and that was something Oliver wasn’t used to doing frequently. She was the only PERSON who made his heart beat that fast - who made him want to kiss her, not knowing exactly why.

Oliver Queen knew two things. The first thing was that Felicity Smoak was someone special. And the second was that she deserved someone better and because of that he wasn’t willing to screw it up with some thoughts he didn’t even understand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can find me on twitter: @amiipond and tumblr: amellybett-smoak


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. I'm so sorry I didn't post anything in a long time, but I was on vacations, so was my friend vivi who always help me, so we hadn't time to translate it.  
> English is not my first language and I don't have any BETA so, i'm sorry for any grammar error or typos.  
> I'm going to try to post next chapter as soon as I can.  
> Happy reading and don't forget to tell me what you think. Your opinion is important to me.

The days passed with complete normality in Starling City, although normal was not the best word to describe the city. The sudden appearance of a vigilante who wanted to provide justice to the city wasn’t normal. However, despite all those uncommon events that the citizens had to deal with, they tried to continue on with their lives.

Oliver tried his best to have a normal life, even though he knew that it wasn’t possible. He tried to be the guy he once was, that way everyone would be happy and he wouldn’t have to answer too many questions about what happened to him in that island. People used to do that and there were a few things that he didn’t want to talk about, not even with his family. Nevertheless, very little about the person he used to be remained. Oliver wasn’t a playboy whose only concerns were having a great time from party to party and trying to sleep with as many girls as possible, it didn’t matter to him if they had a boyfriend or were engaged… He wasn’t that guy who didn’t care about anything but himself or his sister. Even though he wasn’t that person anymore, he didn’t think that the man he had become was better. All those awful things he had to do in order to survive didn’t let him think that he was a good person nor deserve good things to happen to him.

His relationship with his family wasn’t good either since he came back a few months ago… Oliver was rarely at home because of his double life. He used to miss dinners he promised his mother he would attend, but his mission would always be more important than any stupid dinner full of rich people who didn’t care at all about what was happening to the city. And that was exactly what happened the night his mother invited the Bowen for dinner. Carter Bowen was an old classmate back when Oliver was still in high school. He didn’t really like the man because he had always been in his shadow. The former playboy didn’t care at all about what Carter might have been doing but he hated the fact that this mother wouldn’t stop talking about how good he was at everything. Oliver agreed to go to the dinner, although he thought that swimming back to Lian Yu without any lifesaver would be more entertaining. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he had to leave earlier, which made his mother mad.

Thanks to Felicity’s help, he found out that the man who stole from Starling City’s Bank was a former employee from the Queen Steel Factory, Derek Reston. Oliver wanted to give him the chance to change, but it was too late for him. Reston planned another bank robbery along with his son, but things didn’t turn out the way he wanted and died in front of Oliver.

Despite Diggle’s efforts to convince him that it wasn’t his fault, Oliver couldn’t help but feel guilty of Reston’s death.

When his mother was shot by mistake, Oliver’s investigation led him to meet Helena Bertinelli, the daughter a mafia boss. Helena seemed to be a sweet but heartbroken girl, but soon enough Oliver found out that deep down inside, she was girl with a thirst for revenge. She blamed her father for her boyfriend’s death, so she wanted to kill him. Oliver blamed himself because he was the one who taught her how to use a bow. He also blamed himself because he had become too involved in the case. And Helena blamed him because he wasn’t able to carry out the plan to kill her father. Frank Bertinelli got arrested and was going to spend the rest of his life in jail. Oliver tried to make her understand that that was justice, but she didn’t wanted to hear it and left, not without warning him to stay out of her way or his secret would no longer be one.

The last weeks had been too complicated for Oliver. He was so frustrated and overwhelmed by all the events he had to go through that he didn’t even call nor seen Felicity, except for that time when “the Hood” had payed her a quick visit in order to know a few things about Derek Reston. He was wondering if it was a good idea allowing Felicity come into his life. It wasn’t safe for her to be involved with the man under the hood but it wasn’t safe for her to be involved with Oliver Queen either. His personality was very complicated. He didn’t know how to look at her after he hadn’t been able to prevent a man from dying. How could he look at her after everything he had done? Not only because of what he had done in the last weeks, but also in the past 5 years. She was full of light and he was full of darkness. What was in his mind the moment he decided to let her come into his life? But it was too late, in one way or another, he needed her in his life, even when that thought was selfish. He was different with her. He was getting to know a new part of him that he didn’t even know it existed. When he was with her, he didn’t need to fake a smile, it just came naturally to him… She made him feel so good.

****

A few weeks had passed since the last time she had seen Oliver. Felicity thought that maybe he had changed his mind about being friends with a nerd like her. She had never had any no-nerd friend because most people thought she was a freak that would rather stay at home studying on a Saturday night than go to a party. Felicity didn’t care about what most people thought about her because she also had her own opinion about them… She thought they were all the same, boring, that they only cared about going to parties and drinking… Oliver had been one of them and if she had met him back then, she would have hated him. But he changed, he was different. And although she was different too, she still couldn’t imagine a universe where Oliver Queen wanted to be her friend… That was why it didn’t surprised her when Oliver didn’t call her for a few weeks. It was possible that all those ideas were just projections of her own insecurities and the real reason for him not calling her was because he was busy (he hadn’t showed up for coffee either like he had been doing since they met). She didn’t know what to think anymore.

Even though Felicity couldn’t stop thinking about Oliver, he wasn’t the only thing in her mind…  The hood was still present in her thoughts, no matter how much she tried to focus in her boring life because she couldn’t help but wonder if she would see him again. She wanted to feel helpful. She wanted to know more about him even if it seemed impossible because he didn’t want her to.

On the other hand, Felicity was investigating about “Tempest” because there was something weird on what Moira Queen had done. Her intention was to help Mr. Steele, her boss, because he had always been nice to her… but when she told him about what she had found, Mr. Steele asked her not to get involved in his wife’s business without permission or she would get fired. Felicity felt bad about it. Obviously, there was something strange in the whole situation… but Mr. Steele was right, she should have stayed out of that. After all, those were some family business that only they could solve.

Back into her office, after her encounter with Mr. Steele, Felicity sat in her chair and picked one of the pens that were on her desk, a red one to be specific. She couldn’t help but feel bad because, even though she had good intentions, it wasn’t her business so it wasn’t a good idea…  It almost costed her job, the one she had fought so hard to get and keep.

Felicity was immersed in her thought when she noticed someone getting into her office, but she decided to ignore it.

“FELICITY” The IT girl got scared when she heard her name in a louder tone than the ones she was used to. She knew that voice… it was Oliver. He was in front of her after a few weeks not having any news from him.

“Hey, stranger…  And here I thought you forgot about your IT girl” she said, ignoring the fact that Oliver had to shout her name in order to get her attention, because she was too immersed in her own thoughts.

“Is that your way of saying you missed me?”

“Yes…  I mean, no”. She replied nervously. She didn’t want her ‘yes” to sound in the wrong way and make Oliver think more than what it was. However, she was the only one who kept those things in mind, Oliver failed to take that into account.

“Are you okay?” Oliver asked worried.

“Eh… yeah… It’s just… Well… I haven’t had a good day.” Technically, it wasn’t a lie because her day had been a total chaos due to all the things she was asked to do. Most of the time, she would never complain about that because she loved her job but… That day hadn’t gone  well after what Mr Steele had said to her.

“I’m sorry.”

She didn’t reply, just sighed.

“Hey…” he said in a gentle tone, making Felicity lift her head and look at him. “Sorry for not calling you in all this time… These had been some very complicated weeks. Tommy and I have been really busy with things related to the club. Besides that, I just needed a few days for myself”.

For the first time in a long time, Oliver had decided to ignore everything that came into his mind and visit Felicity, just because it was something he needed, even though he still thought it wasn’t a good idea to involve her in his dangerous life.

“Oh… I hope everything turns out fine.”

“It can always be better” Oliver realized that Felicity wasn’t in the mood to talk. She was usually the one who was talking and making him smile, but in that moment, there was something different about her. “Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?” He said breaking the silence that was formed between them.

“I just need to go home and sleep. Tomorrow would be another day.”

“Is that what you usually do when you have a bad day?”

“No… I usually do a Doctor Who marathon on Netflix while eating mint chocolate ice cream”

“Really?” she nodded. “I didn’t thought you would watch that kind of TV shows.”

“Hey, I’m a geek… and you should try to watch it” she said in an amusing way and trying to sound offended.

“I don’t think that’s a TV show for me.”

“At least you should try to watch the first season.”

“I don’t know, I just…”

“How do you know if you don’t like it if you haven’t watched it?” she asked Oliver. “Okay, suggest this: how about you watch it and if you don’t like it I will hide your marks so nobody won’t be able to find them” she said interrupting him.

“Did you see them?”

“If it’s online, I can find it.”

“Okay, I like the idea. But let’s make this even more interesting. How about this? If I watch it and end up liking it, which it’s something I doubt, I’ll give you a bottle of wine.”

“Which wine?”

“Lafite Rothschild 1982…”

“Wow, I love that wine… but for obvious reasons I can’t afford drinking it, except when they served it in those events QC organizes…”

“I hope I like it then, so that way one of those bottles will be yours, but again, that’s not going to happen.”

“I hope you love it” she said excited and with a smile in her face.

“I hope not… I really need you to hide my marks” he muttered almost in her ear making the blonde smile.

“Okay… but I really need that wine.”

“It’s a deal” Oliver took his hand out of his pocket and looked at her, waiting for her to join it with hers to make the deal.

                                                                               ***

Oliver put the hood again in order to find Ted Gaynor, a bodyguard who worked for a security company “Blackhawk Squad Protetion Group” turned out to be the first Commander of the Diggle’s first venture in Afganistan. Diggle refused to believe that Ted was a bad guy but Oliver insisted that if he was on the list, it was because he had done something.

The hood paid a visit to Ted Gaynor but wasn’t able to get any information about him, because Diggle stopped him by pointing a gun at him. Oliver shot an arrow at the computer screens causing sparks jumping over them and get them filled with smoke. That way he was able to take the pen Gaynor was using just a few moments before his arrival in order to get information from it.

When he arrived to the foundry, Diggle and Oliver started to argue again. On one hand, Diggle kept saying Ted was innocent, while on the other hand Oliver told him he had found years ago a message from his father which explained that everyone on that list was there for a reason.

“How could you find that message if you were on that island?” asked Diggle angry.

“I’ve never said it was on the island” Oliver replied shouting.

“Listen Oliver, Ted got me into Blackhawk and I’m going to show you that he’s innocent. You own that at least.” Oliver didn’t replied to that, he just let Diggle go. He was sure that Gaynor wasn’t innocent but his friend didn’t want to see it that way.

***

Oliver didn’t want to rely on Felicity’s help this time, he swore to himself that he wouldn’t get her involved in any other case anymore but… his computer skills were too basic to even try to get information from that pendrive protected by a password.

Oliver knew that without her help, he wouldn’t be able to do anything. She was the only person he trusted that was able to help him. Because of that, he decided to pay her a visit as the hood.

Fifteen minutes later, he was waiting for her in the parking lot. He not only knew when she was due to leave her work but also at what time there wouldn’t be anyone there, that’s why he chose that place for their first encounter and the other ones they had.

“Felicity Smoak?” he said when he saw her walking towards her car.

Felicity was surprised when she heard her name. She wasn’t expecting the hood to pay her another visit. She wasn’t expecting to see him again after that night she had to get information about this guy called Derek Reston… That night he told her that he appreciated her help but he didn’t want to put her in danger and had taken enough risks. Felicity wanted to reply but he was already leaving.

“It’s you… again.”  Felicity closed her eyes and took a breath, looking for the appropriate words mentally. “I thought you would never come back asking for my help… I mean, last time looked like a goodbye.”

“It was.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“You.”

Pause.

“You are the only person that I trust to ask for help…”

“In that case, I’m flattered.”

He didn’t reply. He just approach her and gave her the pendrive.

“It has a security system that I’m not able to get through it but I’m sure you can do something about it.”

Felicity just nodded and took the pendrive. That was the first time she had ever touched him, even though his hand was covered by a black leather glove. That little action sent shivers down her spine. It was something different, it was something she had never felt before. It was like she was connected to him in some way. That simple touch made her feel like she knew him. Felicity thought that those thought may have been produced by her admiration for him. She even wondered if she had developed some kind of crush on him like the ones she had when she was a teenager.

“Felicity” she just looked at him. She couldn’t see his face nor distinguish who was under the hood, which was something that frustrated her… But on the other hand, she like the idea of not knowing who he really was because, if she discovered his identity, things would change. She would see him as a person… and that would make her be even more worried about him. She wondered if he had a family, a son, if he was married or if he had someone who took care of him when he took off his hood… She would love to have the answers to all those questions but at the same time, she didn’t want to know. “How long are you going to need in order to get the information? A friend of mine thinks this man is innocent and the closer he is to that guy the more dangerous the situation becomes. That’s why I want to prove him he’s wrong.”

“I thought you worked alone.”

“I do, I just have some help.”

“Oh, well… It shouldn’t take longer than fifteen minutes, depending on the security system it has…” he didn’t say anything, so she kept talking. “I can do it now, I just don’t think this is the best place to do this kind of stuff... I mean… Someone might come in, there are many people who are still working and may see you, or me next to you…  It’s not like I’m worried that people may see me next to you, it’s just that the people of this city doesn’t have a good image of you and can look at me the same way, which can affect negatively at my job… It’s not like I think you are a bad person because I don’t… what I try to say is…”

“Felicity” he approach her and put a hand on her shoulder. She stop talking and glanced down embarrassed.

“Felicity” he got closer and put his hand on her shoulder, she stopped talking and looked down embarrassed. She felt the blood rushed to her head, causing her cheeks to get red, though it wasn’t visible in the darkness. “There has to be some place in this building where we can do this without being seen” Oliver knew perfectly, that it was possible, he, better than anyone, knew every corner of the building. When he was little he used to run around, hiding from his father or waiting for him to finish interminable meeting.

 “I don’t know… Don’t be offended but I don’t it’s a good idea for you to get in there…   there are security guards and they could see you and…” Felicity stopped talking when she realized that his hand was still on her shoulder.

“Trust me.”

“I do, but I’m worried that something may go wrong.”

“Trust me” he said once more but that time, she didn’t say anything.

Felicity started to walk and Oliver / The Hood followed her. He knew where exactly her office was, it wouldn’t be his first time in there, but he decided not to say a word and let her guide him wherever she felt safe. Fortunately, it was quite late and there wasn’t anyone in the building, except for the security guards and a few co-workers… but Felicity knew where exactly they were so she knew where to go in order not to let anyone see them. She felt observed by the hood who was walking behind her with a bow in his hand. The IT girl guided him to her office, where the light were turned off because there was nobody there.

 

“Okay, this should be quick.” Felicity sat down on her chair and waited for the computer to turn on to be able to get into the pendrive. “It’s protected by a password… guilty or not, he sure took the trouble in order to protect this information.” He was looking at her in silence while she was typing things that he didn’t understand. “This is a military-grade cryptographic security protocol… okay… this is pretty illegal” she said when she was able to get through the security system.

“Felicity, what did you find?”

“Oh well, you know, robbing an armored car, with grenade launchers and tear gas. It looks like its owner was using the system to store detailed routers and schedules for each of the city’s seven major armored couriers, including the three that had already been hit.” She kept explaining to him everything she was finding, not asking questions about what she was reading because she didn’t want to know. “There is nothing else that can be useful to you” she said while taking the pen drive off and giving it back to him. “Good luck with your friend…” Felicity stood up and took her purse which she had put on her desk. “I think we should get out of here. Someone might come in.”

“Felicity…” She stopped her from leaving without saying a word by grabbing her arm. He got closer to her and brought one of his hand to her face, making her close her eyes and feeling the warmth that came from his hand. She got a little bit closer and kissed her on the forehead. “Thank you.” She didn’t know what to say. The hood had just kissed and was mentally shouting like she did when her first crush kissed while playing “spin the bottle”. That kiss was the most tender gesture she had received in such a long time.

Felicity saw how the hood left and didn’t know how to reply. That gesture had left her speechless. She knew that to him, it might not have mean anything but to her, that meant a lot. That kiss was the beginning of something new. That kiss made her feel that she was not wrong about him being a good person… There was something that made her believe.

***

For a moment, Oliver convinced Diggle that he actually believed his words about Ted but put a microphone on his jacket, thinking he wasn’t aware of it. The truth was that Diggle was well aware of what Oliver had done. The ex-soldier still thought that Ted was innocent but when things got complicated, he realised that Oliver was right. Ted wasn’t the man he thought he was. Ted kidnapped Carly in order to make Diggle work for him… he was a threat and Diggle didn’t want to lose Carly. He had already lost his brother, he wasn’t going to lose her too.

In a matter of seconds, Diggle found himself pointing Ted out, the man he believed in his innocence just a few hours ago… but he couldn’t… or at least that what he thought. Diggle didn’t know if he wouldn’t have been able to shoot him or not… but then Oliver suddenly appeared and shot him with some arrows making Ted fall over the floor dead.

“I wish you trusted me” said Diggle once he got into the foundry and showing him the microphone he had on his jacket.

“I trusted you, Diggle. But them, never.”

“I screwed up, Oliver. Obviously Gaynor wasn’t who I thought he was. I was wrong”

“Yeah, but you were right, too. When you told me that I trusted the list more than I trusted in you… Diggle, the truth is, after what happened to me on the island… It’s difficult for me to trust… anything. But you do. And that reminded me why I chose you as my partner. It’s because you see the best in people…”

“The same way you trust Felicity?”

“I trust Felicity… And somehow she trusts me even though she doesn’t know who I am… Sometime I wonder what makes her trust someone like me…”

“She thinks you are a hero, that’s what makes her trust you. To her, it doesn’t matter who you are but what you do. She’s a good girl, Oliver…”

“I know, that’s why I don’t wanna involve her even more… but although I hate to admit it, I need her help and there’s no other person in his world able to do what she does that I trust more than her. That’s the main reason why I wanted to get to know her as Oliver… Even though that hasn’t been the smartest decision I’ve ever made… I need to protect her and I don’t know any other way to do it.”

“You know that I don’t like the idea of her being involved in all of this… but you did and she trusts you… and I am really sure that you’ll protect her from anyone who wants to harm her, but I’m not sure if you’ll be able to protect her from yourself… And you know what I mean.”

***

It had been a week since the last time Oliver had seen Felicity, he had just sent her a few messages letting her know that he was keeping his side of their bargain and watching Doctor Who, followed by a few random emojis that tried to show his state of mind.

_“Belly Burger in 30”_

**“What?”**

_“It’s a surprise.”_

And that’s where Felicity was, in the Belly Burger, thirty minutes later, sat in one of those tables waiting for Oliver to arrive. Five minutes later, Oliver came in accompanied by his bodyguard, Diggle, and a bag in his hand. Felicity smiled when she saw him and raised her hand to show him where she was.

“Hi”

“Hi. Felicity you already know my bodyguard, Diggle”

“Yes, hello, Diggle” she said hello to him smiling. “Why did you wanna have a date at this time? It’s not like this is a date… I mean a date-date…”

“I’m a man of my word.” Oliver took out a bottle of wine from the bag. It wasn’t just any bottle of wine, it was the one he promised her. Felicity opened her mouth surprised. She wasn’t expecting Oliver to fulfill his part of their deal. She was pretty sure that he would love it but she wasn’t sure if he would keep his side of the bargain or his pride wouldn’t let him admit she was right.

“So that mean…”

“I loved it” Oliver said not letting her finish her sentence. “’It’s a good TV show… In fact, there’s a character who looks like my best friend’s father…” The two of them giggled while Diggle left in order to get some plastic cups to drink the wine.

“I don’t know your friend’s father, but I think you are right.”

Diggle watched the whole scene and couldn’t help but notice their dynamic while returning to their table. He knew Oliver but whenever he was with her, he would become a different Oliver… in a good sense of the word.

“I am aware that there’s nothing glamorous in drinking wine in some Big Belly Burger’s cups but… here you have” said Diggle putting the plastic cups on the table and sitting next to Oliver, just in front of Felicity.

“It’s perfect.” Felicity took a cup and waited for Oliver to fill it with the wine.

“Let’s make a toast” suggested Oliver when the three plastic cups were filled.

“To the beginning of a good friendship” said felicity raising her cup and linking it to the ones Oliver and Diggle had.

The three of them spend the night talking about nothing important. That night wasn’t like the ones he had once he came back from the island. That night, he wasn’t able to relax, to be himself. Not the one under the hood, not the one everybody wanted him to be… but the new Oliver he was discovering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can find me on twitter: @amiipond and tumblr: amellybett-smoak

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on twitter: @amiipond and tumblr: amellybett-smoak


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